A New Family Member
by Relatable Alien
Summary: A girl mysteriously appears in Engineering when Geordi experiences problems with the warp core. Who is she? Where is she from? When is she from? And what's her connection to Captain Picard?
1. 1 Trouble in Engineering

The red warning lights started flashing all over Engineering.

"Shutdown the warp core!" yelled Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge, the chief engineer on board the USS Enterprise-D. He worked furiously with his comrades, manually overriding the computer and bringing them out of warp speed. He rushed around his office, shouting commands to the workers grouped around the central table, keying in operations and instructions for the computer. They soon had the situation under control, but no warp drive. "Nice work everyone," Geordi addressed the room as they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr LaForge, what happened?" Captain Jean-Luc Picard inquired over communicator from the bridge where they were getting the same red warning lights.

"Something happened to the warp core," Geordi explained as best he could. "No injuries to report. I'm starting a level three diagnostic now." He added, feeding the command into the computer. "Until we know what went wrong I'm afraid we've only got impulse power."

"I'm sending Mr Data down to assist you," Picard said. The communique ended.

"Com-commander L-LaForge?" Lieutenant Barclay stuttered, pointing under Geordi's desk.

"What is it, Reg?" Geordi asked, still keying in numbers. When Barclay didn't respond, he looked up following Reg's pointing hand to under the desk. A teenage girl lay there. "What the-?" Geordi exclaimed in awe. He leant down to examine her closer. "Her clothes…" he murmured, reaching out with a hand and touching her arm. Her eyes snapped open behind glasses askew from a fall as her body jolted. She stared up at LaForge and froze. Her eyes slowly took in the room. Suddenly she gagged, her stomach releasing its contents in a small pool on the floor. Geordi managed to leap back just in time to avoid getting puked on. The world faded to white and black as she fainted back into unconsciousness on the floor. Geordi pressed his communicator.

"Sickbay, request assistance in Engineering," he said. "Captain?"

"Yes, Mr LaForge," Picard replied on communicator.

"It seems we have a new visitor."


	2. 2 Questions in Sickbay

The first thing Alex became aware of as she woke was soft beeping coming from near her head. Opening her eyes, her vision was a blur of lights and colours.

"She's waking up," Dr Crusher said, standing beside the biobed. Alex's eyes opened wide, the world coming into alarming focus. Dr Crusher put a hand on her shoulder as she tried to sit up, to move, to do something! "Don't try to speak yet," Dr Crusher instructed, her voice calm. As Alex's head snapped around to view the room, her breathing began to quicken. "It's alright, there's no need to be afraid." Dr Crusher tried to reassure her as tears welled in Alex's wide eyes. She stared at Captain Picard and Counselor Troi on the opposite side of the room, standing near the wall and watching her closely. "I'm Dr Crusher. You're on board the Enterprise, in sickbay."

"Where?" Alex whispered, her eyes snapping to Dr Crusher's as she grew pale. She was shivering in fright.

"The Enterprise," Dr Crusher repeated. "What's you name?" she asked as Alex continued to stare into her eyes, unresponsive.

"The Enterprise…" Alex repeated what Dr Crusher had said. "Wh-what's the Enterprise?"

"We'll explain everything to you as soon as we can, I promise," Dr Crusher reassured her. "Can you tell me what your name is?" Alex looked at her oddly for a moment, tossing up whether she could trust this strange woman or not. It didn't seem like she had any choice.

"Alex Jones," she said softly. She looked over at Captain Picard and Counselor Troi. "Who are they?" Counselor Troi stepped forward, deciding to do the introductions.

"My name's Deanna Troi, I'm the ship counselor," Deanna explained. "This is Captain Picard." Picard gave Alex a steely gaze. She swallowed down, unsettled by something in those grey-hazel eyes.

"Captain?" Alex repeated.

"That's right," he said, still watching her closely. "I'm in command of this ship."

"The Enterprise," Alex nodded slightly. She turned back to Dr Crusher. "What is the Enterprise? What kind of ship?"

"A galaxy class starship," Dr Crusher supplied. Alex's jaw dropped.

"A… star… ship," she whispered. "We're - we're in space? We're actually flying through space?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, we are," Dr Crusher smiled seeing the awe light up in Alex's eyes.

"Excuse me, Alex," Captain Picard said, walking over to the bed. "But there are some questions we need answered. You're human, correct?"

"Yeah, what else would I be?" Alex looked between the three of them, edging higher on the bed. Picard decided to ignore her question.

"Do you have any idea how you got here?" he asked. Alex looked towards the corner of the wall, gently shaking her head.

"You mean you didn't take me?" her face went ashen as she spoke.

"No," he replied. "Can you tell us what you remember before arriving on board?"

"I was in the kitchen, having a glass of water before I left for school," Alex said slowly. "There was a loud bang from the room next door, the neighbour's apartment. I must have blacked out. Then I woke up and this guy was standing over me with this thing on his eyes. There was this blue thing behind him. I think I threw up… fainted and woke up here."

"You have no idea how you arrived on board?" Picard stressed the importance of this. Alex shook her head.

"Sorry, no," she apologised. Captain Picard nodded, sharing a look with Counselor Troi. "Excuse me, Captain Picard, when will I be able to go home? I have an exam at school today."

"I'll see what we can do," Picard said. He looked at her clothing again. "Actually, would you happen to be able to tell me today's date?" he raised an eyebrow slightly. Alex screwed her eyes shut in thought.

"It's Thursday, the… 19th of June, 2014," she replied, opening her eyes. Dr Crusher's eyes widened as she turned to Picard. Counselor Troi had to hold back a gasp, also turning towards Picard. "Is something wrong?" Alex asked, concern mounting.

"Alex, now stay calm, everything is going to be alright," Picard raised his hands slightly, palms open in what was meant to be a gesture of peace. Alex turned to Dr Crusher, her alarm growing.

"What's happened-" Alex said, but stopped, turning back to Picard.

"You are in the 24th century," he told her, his voice calm. Alex froze, her brain struggling to compute this information. When she didn't speak, Picard continued. "It seems that you have been displaced over three hundred years into our time." Alex blinked. She swallowed.

"24th century…" she breathed, looking downwards to the foot of the biobed she was on. "No." she closed her eyes. "No, please no." She screwed her eyes shut tighter. Counselor Troi and Dr Crusher both did their best to console her as Captain Picard stood there, watching. "No, no, I can't be- There must be- I…" Alex burbled as tears streaked down her face.

"Alex," Captain Picard said. She looked up to him, eyes red and already puffing. "I promise, we will look after you."


	3. 3 Alone

Captain Picard had returned to his duties on the bridge as Counselor Troi sat with Alex in sickbay while Dr Crusher monitored her. Alex was sat up so she could see everything more comfortably.

"What exam is it you have later today?" Deanna asked, trying to make conversion.

"Mathematics," Alex told her. "I guess I'm a bit late to sit the test now." Deanna gave her a sympathetic smile. "What did Captain Picard mean before, asking if I was human?" Deanna looked to Dr Crusher. Alex read their shared looks. "Seriously?" They both turned to her. "We've met extraterrestrial life forms? Like, other intelligent species? That's cool!" Her eyes were wide with interest.

"As it happens, I'm half Betazoid half human," Deanna informed Alex. She gaped in awe.

"Like, that's possible? Two different species having an offspring together?" Alex was astonished.

"There are lots of complications and not all species are compatible," Dr Crusher pointed out.

"But still, in my time humans are discriminating against each other for the colour of their skin," Alex said. "It's good to know that as a race we have things sorted out in the future." She pushed her glasses higher up her nose. "I won't be allowed to tell anyone about this, when I get back." Dr Crusher looked to Counselor Troi.

"Alex," Counselor Troi began. "We don't even know how you got here. You might not be able to get back." Alex heard her but the words didn't seem to sink in. They were interrupted by Geordi's arrival.

"Heya Doctor," he said, entering the small room off the side of watching him curiously with caution. "I see she's awake." Dr Crusher smiled.

"Alex, this is Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge," Dr Crusher introduced him.

"You were the man there when I woke up," she said incoherently then blushed, remembering how she'd thrown up. "Sorry for puking on you." She said, her head ducked.

"You missed me, thankfully," Geordi told her with a smile. Alex looked up again, watching him once more with curiosity.

"What are you wearing over your eyes?" Alex asked. Geordi raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"It's called a VISOR," he explained. "It lets me see light in different spectrums as well as many other types of radiation.

"But why do you need it?" Alex asked again. Dr Crusher thought she'd intersect.

"Geordi is blind," she explained.

"And the VISOR lets you see?" Alex said with astonishment.

"Yeah! It feeds the information into my optic nerves," Geordi explained.

"That's so awesome!" Alex grinned, her eyes alight with excitement. "You can do anything and more than anyone with normal eyes could do. This is extraordinary!"

"Yes, well, I'd best be getting back to Engineering," Geordi informed the group.

"You are still up for poker tomorrow night?" Dr Crusher inquired.

"Sure am," Geordi said just before the door closed. Alex looked down at the floor.

"You're upset," Counselor Troi observed. Alex looked up. "You feel lonely. I can sense it. I'm empathic." Alex looked back down at the floor. Dr Crusher went over to the biobed, sitting beside Alex and tenderly putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Counselor Troi, please report to the bridge," Commander Riker's voice sounded over the communicator.

"Acknowledged," Deanna answered. She shared a sorrowful look with Dr Crusher as she quietly left the room. Alex sniffled, putting her head in her hands.

"You'll be alright," Dr Crusher promised her. Alex just nodded with her face still obscured from view.

"Dr Crusher," she sniffed. "What's going to happen if I can't get back?" Dr Crusher rubbed her shoulders gently, considering her answer.

"I don't know," she admitted at last. "Starfleet might try and track down any living relatives you might have."

"I want to get back, I miss my family," Alex cried.


End file.
